More recently, there has been a need to permanently archive different types of digital data in a manner that guarantees that the archived data can be retrieved and used, but cannot be altered. Two example areas where this need exists are the medical and securities fields. In the medical field, there is a need to permanently archive various types of medical records and correspondence. In the securities field, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has mandated that brokerages must permanently archive financial records and certain correspondence, e.g., facsimiles, between brokers and clients. In both situations, there is a need to be able to permanently archive a wide variety digital data. Examples of digital data that needs to be permanently archived include, without limitation, facsimile data, scanned document data, copier data, printer data and email data. Beyond these examples, there may be numerous other types of digital data specific to particular industries that needs to be permanently archived, such as fetal monitor data in the health care industry.
One solution to this problem has been to store digital data onto so-called Write-Once-Read-Many (WORM) storage media. Examples of WORM storage media include optical-type media, such as Compact Discs (CDs) and Digital Versatile Discs (DVDs). Typically a user uses a personal computer to move the data from the personal computer to a WORM storage device. For example, a wide variety of “writeable” CD ROM drives are available for personal computers. In this situation, a user selects particular digital data to be archived and stores the digital data to the CD ROM drive, sometimes referred to as “burning” a CD ROM. Depending upon the particular operating system used, this might involve a “drag and drop” operation, where a mouse or other pointing device is used to select the particular digital data and move it to the CD ROM device. This example illustrates a significant drawback with conventional permanent archival approaches. Namely, for each item of digital data that is to be permanently archived, direct human participation is required to complete the process. These approaches are therefore impractical in applications where large amounts of digital data need to be permanently archived.
Based on the increasing need for permanent archival of digital data, an approach for permanently archiving digital data that does not suffer from limitations in conventional approaches is highly desirable.